Avatar: The Second to Last Airbender
by OxVanillaPeachesxO
Summary: Oh, poor Jade; betrayed by her "family", shunned by her mentors, she and Aang have a talk by a part of nature's untouched beauty. I was stuck on deciding whether it should be K or T, so I chose T.


**Me:HAHAHAHA, I'm back suckers. =P LOL, I'm so joking, I love all of you (not really). I absolutely ADORE Avatar right now, so I decided that I should write a fanfic about it. Ingenious, right? Right.**

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Jade dashed through the busy streets, searching for her disappearing brother and fresh tears flying out of her eyes. He had to be here! He promised her he would! They all did, didn't they?

"Wesley! Wesley, are you here?" the redhead cried desperately and rubbed her eyes furiously to try and stop the endless bombard of tears. The poor girl's efforts were fruitless. "Mother, Father? Where are you?"

People were giving her strange looks as she shoved rudely past them, but they didn't affect Jade. All the 15-year old cared about was finding her family, who had sworn on her great-grandmother's grave that they would show up in the village. So then where were they?

Jade stopped in an alley and slumped on a wall, her eyes becoming downcast. "Mother...Father...Wesley, where are you? I need you here...they're coming!"

The abandoned girl was on the point of a major breakdown in public, and that was the last thing Jade needed right now. Unfortunately, the remains of the Fire Nation was attacking at random, taking entire villages and growing stronger with each blow. In a few years, most people believed that the Fire Nation would (once again) be in control of most of the world.

The Avatar had vanished again, without a trace, too. So it looked as if the world was a giant broken record, repeating every part over and over. Jade was smack-dab in the middle of all the chaos; the Fire Nation had chosen to destroy her village this time. How could her family leave her like this, to be gone for the dead?

A horrible thought crossed the young girl's mind and she gasped, putting a hand on her mouth to prevent her from screaming in anguish. _Her own family had led her into a trap. _No, surely they had just forgotten about it, surely they--

But then Jade remembered her father's last words before they washed her of their hands.

_"Remember Jadellina, you can't trust anyone."_

No...he meant them! And Wesley...how could he? After everything they had gone through, the brunette had totally betrayed her! Jade looked to Wesley as a role model, as her idol. He could bend so perfectly...though everyone always compared her to him when she screwed up. Sometimes even when she was doing nothing at all.

_"Ugh Jade, you can't do anything right! I can't believe you and Wesley are even related!"_

_"No, no, no, Jadellina. You're doing it all wrong; why can't you be at least a little bit like your brother?"_

_"Wesley's sooooo perfect Jade. There's absolutely no possible way such a complete _genius _like him even knows you!"_

Those were actually just a small fraction of the daily dose of snide comments the teenager got from mentors, so called "friends", and random passerbys. How come she couldn't be good in anyone else's eyes? Her mentors shunned her before Jade even got the chance to learn anything, so how could she practice "the right way"? What the poor girl really needed was a friend who could help her get better at her Airbending.

Yes, she was an Airbender. Jade and her family had hidden in this tiny village for years, covering up their identity and luckily, Wesley was an Earthbender, so that helped a ton. But now that she was...alone, her pitiful secret would be revealed. What would she do then?

Several or more screams were heard from behind her and Jade stepped out of the alleyway, glancing behind her shoulder and nearly shrieked herself. The Fire Nation was burning down the entire village, killing innocent people for no apparent reason other than world domination. But how could they dominate a blackened world?

Jade bit her lip and fled the scene as quick as she could, but as soon as Jade turned the corner, she bumped into an unwelcome person.

"Halt!" he said like a real guard and shoved her back roughly with his armor. Jade stumbled back and was tempted to use her bending, but she decided that she would get into even _more _trouble with the Fire Nation if she did that. So Jade just let the guard handcuff her and drag her a bit too forcefully back to his ship, which was too large for Jade's particular liking. It looked an awful lot like a big prison boat, and Jade shuddered as they boarded.

Twelve people were already seated by the railing, and Jade was thrown down next to a bearded old man who looked peaceful and laidback.

"W-Where are we going?" Jade asked to the senior citizen and he smiled kindly.

"Youngsters nowadays, always rushing. We're travelling back to the Fire Nation, of course, to be slaves for the new King," he answered honestly and Jade flashed him a confused look.

"The new King? When did that happen?" she asked doubtfully and glared down at the handcuffs. They were cutting into her wrists painfully.

"Ozai's daughter, Azula. She was the only heir that was willing to step up." Wait, the only heir that was willing to step up?

"Wait, what about Zuko? Wasn't he all about getting his "honor back" and capturing the Avatar and stuff like that?"

"Ah yes, he decided to help the Avatar defeat the former King."

Jade managed a small grin as some guards came over to drag them away. "That's good."

They were all lined up and were facing a buff man with a tyrant-type of scar on his face. Jade scooted closer to the friendly old man; he was really the only one she knew.

"Alright, now I don't want _any _of you worthless idiots interrupting my speech, so watch what will happen if you do," he barked at them and a gangly man accidentally coughed, and the tyrant had his guards throw him overboard in an instant. Some of the smaller children whimpered in fear, but Jade swallowed nervously and glanced at the man. He smiled encouragingly back at her.

"As I was saying, we the Fire Nation have decided..." Jade didn't bother to listen to his mindless rant and glanced boredly around the ship, racking her brain for ways to escape. She found nothing.

"...and that is why you all are on my ship so we can destroy the Avatar, in honor of Queen Azula!" he ended and Jade had to bite her lower lip to keep herself from rolling her eyes. It was the same deal everytime; capture the Avatar, destroy the Avatar...

Unexpectedly, an extremely strong gail tumbled through the ship and Jade clung to the railing behind her, trying not to fly overboard. A couple of men and women were blown off the edge of the ship, unfortunately including the old man. Jade couldn't cry out to him because she didn't know his name, and she was still focusing on not ending up like him.

While everyone was ducking for cover in the gust of wind, an oversized boulder flew into the control tower and sent it spiraling to the sea, and Jade felt her grip loosening. What the heck was happening?

One of the guards screamed over the wind, "It's the Avatar!"

Jade grinned and tried to look up, but that was a _dangerous _mistake. She accidentally let go of the railing and lost her footing, and the poor girl flipped off the ship and tumbled below, yelping in surprise. Either she had to use her Airbending, or she would die with everyone else.

So she made a decision and suddenly a gust of wind sent her flying back over the rail and crashing to the hard surface of the ship, and Jade groaned. She had actually decided _not _to use her bending, so then how was she back on--

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted when someone pulled her up on something soft, and Jade clutched her throbbing head from where it had made contact with the boat.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked worriedly and Jade glanced up through tears, seeing a friendly girl with long brown hair. Jade moaned and pointed to her head.

"It...it hurts," she mumbled and the girl gasped when she looked at Jade's head.

"You're bleeding!" the friendly girl cried and whipped out some water, and started bending it into a glowing ball. A Waterbender, huh? Weren't too many of those left. The Waterbender moved the swirling ball of water over Jade's wound, and Jade cried out in shock. The water made the pain agonizingly worse, and a tall boy who looked similar to the Waterbender scooted up next to her.

"Katara, Aang, Toph, and Zuko need you down in the battle! I'll take care of the wounded ones, okay?" The girl called Katara nodded and jumped down from--wait, what _was _Jade laying on? Jade glanced down and was astonished that she was on a HUGE bison. From the looks of it, it was a _flying _bison, too.

"W-Why are we on a flying bison?" Jade asked the boy, who was most likely Katara's brother, and he grinned slightly.

"Aang prefers to travel this way," he smirked and Jade nodded, not really understanding but going along with it. "By the way, I'm Sokka."

"I'm J-Jadellina. But you can call me Jade, i-if you want.." the redheaded teenager whispered and Katara jumped hurriedly back on with a small, black-haired girl, _Prince Zuko, and the AVATAR._

"Yip-yip, Appa!" the Avatar shouted and the flying bison yawned and took off lazily, dodging fireballs from remaining warriors with ease. Jade's golden eyes widened in excitement and fear. The adrenaline from the moment, it was all too much for the emotionally unstable girl and she passed out, just like that.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Jade woke up feeling more rested than she had ever been in her entire life and stretched, yawning quietly and glancing at her whereabouts. Actually, she was outside and was sleeping on top of the flying bison named Appa, and the Avatar-who she presumed was Aang- was sprawled tiredly on the ground by Appa's feet, and Jade guessed he tumbled off during the night.

Jade sat up and smiled slightly when she saw that everyone was still in dreamland, the small girl-who looked a LOT like someone she had read in a wanted ad- was punching Sokka slowly in her sleep, Sokka was mumbling about boomerangs and some person named Suki, and Katara was curled up in a fetal ball by Aang, but for some odd reason, her hair was drenched.

Then the redhead remembered the former prince of the Fire Nation, and was surprised to see that he was snoring into the ground, a blanket draped over him messily and Jade giggled to herself. They certainly slept odd. She bunched a fuzzy portion of Appa's fur in her hand and grinned at how incredibly soft it was. She would definitely enjoy sleeping on the furry bison.

But a frown flickered across her face and she let go of Appa, a certain thought spreading throughout her mind. Wouldn't she have to leave? They probably didn't have enough room in their travels for a 5th (or what she thought 5th) member, right? So where would Jade go after they kicked her out? Of course she couldn't go back to her old village; it would be in ruins by now. And she wasn't exactly sure which Air Temple she was born at, either...so then what was a possible destination?

The seemingly simple question stumped Jade further than necessary, and the slightly groggy teenager sighed wearily. She would have to figure that out later; she was getting too hungry to truly focus on anything.

Jade jumped silently down from the sleeping bison and unfortunately landed right next to a slumbering Aang, who instantly woke up and climbed into a sleepy fighting stance.

"Who's...there...?" the Avatar asked groggily and rubbed his eye half-heartedly, trying to get a better view of his "attacker".

"Um, s-sorry Avatar...I was just g-going to get some breakfast, if that's okay..." Jade trailed off because Aang was leaning forward, already falling back asleep. Jade quickly caught him before he kissed the ground and gently laid him back on Appa, nestling him into the warm fur. Hopefully he wouldn't remember their little encounter, but you can't have everything.

Before Jade could wake anyone _else _up, she high-tailed out of the area and stopped at a lake, examining the sparkling beauty of nature that was undisturbed by humans or war. If only the rest of the world could be like it-peaceful and glorious. Jade slipped off her shoes and stuck her toes in the water, and giggled quietly when tiny fish swam in and out of them. She loved the untouched parts of nature the most, because you could watch it silently without having someone attack you.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Jade stifled a scream and turned around slowly, and let out a _huge _sigh of relief; it was only the Avatar. But wasn't he asleep like no less than 5 minutes ago? How long had she been here, enjoying nature?

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Why would you ask?" Jade wasn't being rude, she was just being curious. Did she seem sad or something?

"Well, it's just that whenever I get stressed or something, I always go to a lake and think there. What're you doing here?" Aang asked innocently and plopped down beside her. Jade shrugged.

"I actually came looking for breakfast, but I kinda got...caught up with the lake," the redhead answered and she heard Aang chuckle.

"Yeah, that's what Sokka does. He always goes out to get breakfast, but usually comes back with air," Aang smiled and Jade laughed. Then Aang had a serious type of look on his boyish face. "Speaking of air...are you a bender?"

Jade froze for a minute; how did he know already? "Uh...y-yes..."

Aang's face lit up in excitement. "Oh cool! If you don't mind me asking, what kind of bender are you?"

Now _that _made Jade stop cold, and she looked at him with horror on her face. There was no way she could tell him...but wasn't he an Airbender, too? Jade had read somewhere that the new Avatar was an Airbender; but could she trust him?

Jade looked nervously at Aang again, and he raised an eyebrow, but showed understanding on his face.

"You don't have to tell me--"

"No...I want to tell you, but I'm not sure if I can trust you...it's a pretty big secret," Jade said, and studied his face. Instead of being confused like she thought it would, it was thoughtful, curious. Jade giggled.

"How can I make you trust me?" Aang asked after a long silence, and Jade looked up from the ground. She had an idea.

"Can you swear on...Katara's life that you won't tell a living-or dead- soul?" the teenage girl asked firmly, and Aang frowned when she said the Waterbender's name. But he understood.

"Ok, I swear on Katara's life that I won't tell a living or dead soul." Jade smiled and motioned for him to come closer, and she cupped her hands over his ear.

"I'm an Airbender," she whispered softly and pulled back, glancing at the Avatar. He seemed shocked, almost doubtful.

"An Airbender? No way! Didn't...the Fire Nation," Aang paused, taking a deep breath before continuing, "kill them all?"

"Well...my 'family' and I remained hidden once I was born, because I was the only Airbender in the family. I was adopted," Jade explained, casting her glance downwards. She didn't like talking about her family or her adoption issue to others, and she was sure Aang would laugh at her, but he just patted her back.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being adopted; it just means you're loved enough that when your birth parents couldn't take care of you properly, another family took you in. Because they loved you." Jade felt an onslaught of water coming to her eyes, but she rubbed them furiously and pulled her knees up to her chest, sniffling quietly.

"But none of my friends would ever talk to me when they found out I was adopted! They totally avoided me, like I had some kind of disease or something! It made me feel really bad inside, Aang!" she cried out and buried her face in her knees, not wanting the Avatar to see her cry. It was a sign of weakness in her village, and her family looked at crying as a disgrace.

But Aang just rubbed her back while she broke down into tears, sobbing quietly. Jade had never opened up like this to anyone; not even her "best friends". Aang really had a way with words, and she knew that they would be the best of friends, true friends this time.

"That's how I felt when my friends at the Air Temple found out I was the Avatar, too. But both of our friends probably just did it because they were scared that we were some kind of aliens or something." Jade almost giggled through her tears. Aliens?

Jade and Aang sat there for what seemed like an eternity, until Jade finally stopped crying and was down to small hiccups. It was actually getting pretty close to lunchtime now.

As the two teenagers stood up to go back, Jade smiled at Aang and said, "Thank you Aang."

"For what?" the boy asked, confused.

"For helping me realize that I can trust people," was all she said and they walked back to the campsite, happy with themselves for more reasons than one.

Who knew just a small trip for breakfast could turn Jade upside down and inside out. But Jade knew that forever and ever, through time and space, she would be the best of friends with Aang, the second-to-last Airbender.

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**Me: Dooooooone! I actually kinda liked the ending, what about you? NO, DON'T TELL ME NOW, CLICK THAT GREEN/WHITE BUTTON THAT SAYS REVIEW THIS CHAPTER/STORY and then tell me how you think of it. That's what they made it for, you know. =P**

**R&R!**

**-Peachuz**


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